BigMint is a Market Intelligence and Price Reporting firm that caters to the data and analytics requirements of businesses in the commodities sector. It publishes real time prices and information, which is impartial, independent and reliable, sourced from all industry interfaces – sellers, buyers, agents and traders. This data is filtered and passed through very stringent, calculative assessments before final prices are derived, thereby giving our clients accurate pricing.

Go to List

India: Low-grade iron ore prices inch down in Karnataka amid lower offers

...

Fines/Lumps

BigMint Bureau

137 Reads

22 Aug 2024, 19:47 IST

India: Low-grade iron ore prices inch down in Karnataka amid lower offers

NMDC cuts base price by around INR 460/t

Stability in sponge CDRI, export prices

NMDC Kumaraswamy auction fetches active response

Domestic low-grade iron ore fines (Fe 57%) prices edged down in Karnataka's Bellary. BigMint's weekly index for low-grade iron ore fines (Fe 57%) stood at INR 2,650/t ($32/t) ex-mines Bellary (excluding taxes), down by INR 50/t ($1/t) w-o-w. National Mineral Development Corporation's (NMDC's) recent price cut, absence of trades combined with stability from the export and sponge iron (CDRI) markets, have exerted downward pressure on low-grade iron ore prices in Karnataka, BigMint observed.

"Low grades fines have not been affected yet after NMDC price cut. However, these fines may get affected in near term," a Bellary-based miner said.

In NMDC Kumaraswamy iron ore auction on 17 August, 2024, 116,000 t of lumps (10-40 mm, Fe 58.73-64.28%) got booked at INR 3,813-5,721/t against the base price of INR 3,533-4,651/t and 120,000 t fines (Fe 59.12-63.59%) got booked at INR 3,089-4,729/t against the base price of INR 3,059-3,829/t. Prices are on ex-mines basis, including royalty, DMF and NMET. Notably, bid prices of lumps and fines were higher by INR 1,070/t and INR 900/t, respectively.

Rationale:

Zero (0) trade was recorded in this publishing window and hence, accorded 0% weightage.

Fourteen (14) offers and indicative prices were reported, and all were considered as T2 trades, receiving 100% weightage.

What factors forced miners to drop offers?

NMDC cuts iron ore base price by around INR 460/t ($5/t) : NMDC Karnataka has announced list prices of iron ore today from Donimalai mines. Revised prices of fines (-10 mm, Fe 59%) stand at INR 3,300/t ($39/t), down by INR 403/t ($5/t) while lumps (10-40 mm, Fe 59%) prices are at INR 3,809/t ($45/t), down by INR 459/t ($5/t). Prices include royalty, DMF and NMET.

Bellary C-DRI prices stable : Sponge iron (CDRI) prices in Bellary, Karnataka remained stable at INR 27,000/t ($322/t) today as against 16 August, 2024. Prices remained stable amid low demand in the semi-finished and finished steel segments.

Low-grade export prices unchanged w-o-w: BigMint's weekly Indian low-grade iron ore fines (Fe 57%) export index remained stable w-o-w at $54/t FOB east coast on 22 August 2024. The market remained silent with no major trades concluded by the Indian iron ore exporters.

Karnataka iron ore sales scenario (16-22 August, 2024)

Outlook

Domestic low-grade iron ore prices are likely to face downward pressure due to NMDC's recent price cuts and limited trade activity. Meanwhile, a cautious market with weak demand could lead to slight decline in prices.